Most days we will go to the standard chain store first and look for a product on how to get rid of dandruff. They have a limited organic selection, plus we get stuff that the organic store does not carry. The chain store will also have a sale going on or some sort of price reduction on different products and they even offer cheap van insurance from time to time. The one thing the chain store does not have is dandelion greens. I have literally fell in love with the taste of dandelion greens. Dandelion greens in my smoothies and in salads. You just cannot beat dandelion greens for taste and nutritional value in my humble opinion.

Well today we were getting an early start with Bookmarking Demon so we figured we would go to the organic store first. Early on a Tuesday morning would make for great timing to avoid congestion on the road and in the checkout lane. Arriving at the store we grabbed a little green cart and made our way around the produce section. All kinds of vibrant, living colors to feast your eyes upon. Bright red tomatoes, deep purple eggplants, vibrant yellow and green squash, rainbow hue mangos and a variety of beautiful green leafy vegetables while listening to muzica de petrecere. Inhale deeply and close your eyes it smells like your walking through an abundant garden in the early morning hours as the birds begin to sing their morning hello to the heavens. You won’t feel your lower abdominal pain ever again in this environment!

We picked our spinach, mango, avocado and romaine thinking this would help us not experience stomach pain after eating anymore. I headed for the one thing I had come here early for. The one glistening green and white leaf I have grown to admire…dandelion greens. Fresh organic dandelion greens. It seems however that our timing this morning was anything but perfect. The bin for my precious dandelion greens was empty. We were too early and all the produce was still being brought out and stocked on shelves and bins. We went about the rest of our shopping and I took one more look at the pitiful empty bin that yearned to be filled with beautiful dandelion greens. We got our new driver car insurance checked out and headed to the chain store where we completed our shopping and I found a substitute for my wonderful green dandelions. Gorgeous, vibrant, ruffled mustard greens. Ah, they are not my beloved dandelions but they will make for a nice salad. Yum.

How hard is this going to be physically?

One of my concerns starting a raw food lifestyle was the detoxifying effects of not eating processed foods. We have been vegetarian for a couple of years and were leaning more toward vegan foods. We were not quite vegan as we still ate cheese and low-fat milk. Our transition was not as bad as I envisioned it would be. Now mind you if you are eating meat and a lot of processed foods, there is going to be a detoxifying period. How severe the experience will be in your personal case will vary. The one thing I kept in the front of mind though was that the detoxifying was getting rid of all the crap that was not doing my body any good in the first place.

The first week I had a couple of mild headaches, and some numbness in my fingers. Neither my wife nor I came down with any ill effects enough to keep us in bed however. I have high blood pressure so I assume that the numbness and tingling was coming from the blood pressure. The headaches were more because we were just not eating enough and certainly not in the correct variations.

The detoxification is still taking place I believe to some degree. After all, there is a lot of processed food and sodas in my system after 41 years. The severity will greatly depend upon your current eating habits. I would say you can expect headaches and perhaps even stomach pains. You will have days that you feel light-headed or just not yourself. This is crap leaving your body. This is your blood getting oxygen like it never was before too. I know it sounds weird, but enjoy the satisfaction of the pain knowing that your body is healing from the inside out. If it gets too serious or you are concerned, see your doctor and explain that you are adjusting your diet.

How much food were we actually going to have to eat to get all of our recommended daily allowances?

We all need a certain amount of calories, carbohydrates, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals. The average person does not have a clue what their current intake is on any given day. When you begin to eat raw food on a regular basis, you become keenly aware of just how much or how little of the daily recommendations you are getting each day. I was looking up individual fruits and vegetables and writing all this stuff down every single day by hand. Then I found this FREE program at FitDay. Just input the food you eat and the program tallies up your totals. It is a fantastic way to see where you can back off on fats, raise your carbs and protein as well as keep track of your vitamin and mineral intake.

I need 2000 calories a day to maintain a healthy 165 pounds. When you start really looking at your intake, you begin to see that you do not get nearly what your body needs. It took me a week to finally figure out a doable balance of food that would not only give me the calories but also the protein I need. This is where the difficult part of the transition starts. I saw many doctors and gurus talk about a balance of 80% carbs, 10% fat and 10% protein. Let me tell you that although that may be achievable, that was not going to happen on our budget. We are steady in the 70% carbs, 20% fats and 10% protein. Don’t let the fats scare you. Keep in mind this is not animal fats or grease. This is fats from fruits and vegetables. For example, 1 avocado has almost 27 grams of fat. Most of the fat is monounsaturated fat. And the avocado has ZERO cholesterol.

Eat a good average balance of fruit and vegetables and you will get the nutrients your body requires. We currently are in the range of 75%-80% fruits and 20&-25% vegetables and some nuts and seeds.

How expensive is this going to be week in and week out?

The big question that was not health related was how much is all this food intake going to cost. Well I have some bad news and good news. The bad news is that you will probably NOT see a decrease in your grocery bill. Sorry, but that is the honest truth. There are a few reasons for this. First your first couple of grocery bills will be slightly higher as you add raw foods to your staple vs all the processed stuff. This is natural. One way to avoid having to large a bill in the beginning is to keep things simple and experiment with fancy recipes after you have started eating raw. I know you must be thinking, “great boring salads and I will get bored.” I thought the same thing. I LOVEd to cook. But after eating raw foods in a natural setting I found that not only did my taste buds enjoy, but my body actually wants simpler foods. I made this fantastic almond pate’, but my body said, “Ken, lets keep it simple for now”.

The good news is that your bill will NOT be any higher after you get through the first couple of weeks. This is where you will also start saving money. For example, you spend $150 a week for food. Then you eat out two or three nights. Then there are the drinks at the convenience store along with a small snack. With raw food you may still spend the $150 a week. BUT that is it. You may still go out, but salads out or the fruit bar is a heck of a lot cheaper at restaurants. You will not want to stop at a convenience store for an over priced snack and a drink.

When grocery shopping I always look for sales. I used to plan meals before going grocery shopping. That just didn’t work. I plan after I get back from the store. Buy organic produce as much as possible. I know this is not always the least expensive, but organics have less pesticides and herbicides and the produce DOES taste much better. Look for produce that is ripe. Riper produce is not only ideal for the raw lifestyle but it has probably been marked down in price to move.

How many supplements and multi-vitamins are we going to have to purchase?

I apologize if this post is long but I really just want to share this with you. My final thought I will leave you with today, is on how many supplements you can expect to take.

Supplements have thier place in any diet. Supplements are meant to replace or “supplement” for areas you lack in your dietary needs. My first reaction to supplements was that it was going to be expensive and we needed a lot of them. That is what you get when you search everything real quick at face value. It is when you start actually knowing what your body is getting that you begin to see that yes there are some supplements you can take and there are plenty of them you don’t need.

B12- I am going to put this to rest in our situation. Plants do not have B12 in them period with the exception of seaweed. There is no skirting this, it is a fact. It is also a fact that the human body needs a certain amount of B12. We are currently looking at two solutions. One is keeping to our 95% percent raw lifestyle and adding 2 cups of fortified soy milk. Two cups of fortified soy milk will give you your daily RDA for B12. The second option is supplements. We are going with the B12 supplement from NOW FOODS. They are not as expensive as other brands and they do not contain fillers.

Iodine – Again we are going with a supplement. Powdered Kelp gives all the RDA for iodine and helps with keeping the thyroid in check.

Calcium-Trust me on this..if you are getting your calorie intake and proteins, you are probably getting the calcium you need. Do not confuse calcium with Vitamin D. We do not currently take a Vitamin D supplement at this time and really I do not plan to until I speak with my doctor. If you opt for the fortified soy milk as your B12 supplement, the Vitamin D you ever need will be there as well.

B vitamins – This is one area that you will have to work on. You do not need B supplements if you get your intakes correct. There is plenty you can do from eating raw foods to get your B vitamins, iron and magnesium. The point is you can work these food into your diet or pay for supplements. We just find ways to work different foods into the diet.

One more final thought on this post about raw food. ( I promise )We didn’t start on raw food to lose weight. But you can and will lose weight eating raw food. Everybody seems to think that this is a raw food DIET. It is not a diet. Raw food is a way of life. It is looking at life in a whole new perspective. It is feeding your body with natural foods. Feeding your body with the love of the earth. You will get more than just health benefits from eating raw food. You will gain a whole new perspective on life. Raw food was never meant to be out of reach for every man, woman or child. The stigma that eating raw food is only for the upper class or weird has got to go to the wayside.

Raw food is freedom like you have never experienced before. Start incorporating some raw food in your daily eating.